Mike's Oud Forums

halim al-dabh

excentrik - 3-14-2007 at 02:16 AM

has anyone heard of him? he is ( i think was) the dean of ethnomusicology at kent state university, akron, ohio-

tarik

John Erlich - 3-14-2007 at 10:19 AM

Hi Tarik,

http://dept.kent.edu/music/WORLD_MUSIC/htm/faculty.htm Scroll down to the second listing. He is a "Professor Emeritus," which means retired. His own web page: http://www.halimeldabh.com/

Seems like an interesting fellow...

Peace,
Udi John

excentrik - 3-15-2007 at 09:48 PM

Thanks John-

He is really a trippy old dude- I had the priveledge to hang out with him for couple nights in his home in Akron, Ohio. He is one of the most well respected ethnomusicologist in the US, but he is little known due to the fact that at his prime (and I mean PRIME: He scored "Clytemestra" for Martha Graham [he worked with her many times], hung out with the Beatles and was a regular at Timothy Leary's Manhattan parties!) He moved back the homeland and studied with some amazing traditional artists of Egypt, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria- as well in all the Arab countries. He was sort of a celebrity before that...

Anyway- I was just asking cuz he is a phenominal Oud player and even greater Pianist- We jammed out at his office in Kent State where he has this huge- I mean HUGE collection of instruments from every part of the world- We spent hours in there! Too bad many of his field recordings are on OLD tape- and the University doesn't want to cough up the funds to convert them to permanent digital format...:(

tarik

John Erlich - 3-16-2007 at 09:43 AM

Tarik,

Here's a thought: Since Smithsonian Folkways has already published 2 of his collections, maybe they would be interested in his other field recordings. If Kent State won't lend their recordings to the Smithsonian, they won't lend to anyone.

http://www.folkways.si.edu/index.html Someone would have to do the leg work and get Kent State and the Smithsonian interested...good luck!

Peace,
John